Aided by unseasonably warm weather and hindered by a balky red ribbon, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science opened Saturday to enthusiastic crowds.

“Merry Christmas, citizens of Dallas. It’s a great gift,” said Mayor Mike Rawlings at the official opening ceremonies.

Rawlings hailed the $185 million museum as a major new institution that would not only raise local education standards, but also serve as an economic engine to create jobs and increase tourism.

The dedication ceremony was brief. The speeches by dignitaries were even briefer.

“I hope you will agree this is 180,000 square feet of inspiration that will get everybody very excited about nature and science,” said museum board chairwoman Carolyn Perot Rathjen in her welcoming remarks.

She was followed by three rounds of cheers led by her father, Dallas businessman Ross Perot — who, with his wife, Margot, lent his name to the museum.

Perot, in turn, was followed by two members of the San Francisco-based Project Bandaloop, who rappelled and danced their way from the top of the museum, the equivalent of 14 stories high. A cannon fired confetti over the crowded plaza.

The only part of the ribbon-cutting that did not go as planned was, well, the ribbon-cutting.

The red cloth was only symbolic, but still wide and thick enough that it resisted the efforts of local officials and the members of the Perot family to cut it with pairs of oversized scissors. Ross Perot Jr. at one point betrayed an exasperated grimace.

“The trick,” confided his mother, Margot Perot, “was to cut the cloth with the scissors and then tear it apart with your hands.”

‘It’s off the charts’

That glitch aside, first-day visitors were enthusiastic.

“It’s off the charts. I don’t believe it,” said Sophia Johnson, who lives in the Cedars neighborhood south of downtown. “It’s not just the exhibits, it’s the layers of other things to do, like videos and interactive games. You could come here 20 times and not see everything.”

Amanda Anderson of Garland had followed the progress of the museum for months and wanted to bring her three children on the first day.

“The older kids liked the universe exhibit, but for the younger ones, it’s definitely the dinosaurs,” she said.

While she was being interviewed, her 5-year-old son, Nathan, tugged her impatiently toward a stuffed bison.

“I grew up going to the Field Museum [in Chicago]. But now that I live here, for Dallas to have something like this, this makes me proud,” she said.

The dinosaur hall was among the busiest exhibits, though the earthquake simulator in the earth hall attracted steady business.

For that exhibit, visitors stand on a platform where they can punch up a quake simulation ranging from mild (roughly magnitude 4.6) to extreme (between 9 and 10).

“The kids all hit the ‘extreme’ button — without exception,” said a staff member.

The sports hall on the ground floor was also popular.

Britanya Anderson of Mesquite watched as her son and her niece, both 3 years old, lined up next to each other to race a T-Rex on the video screen behind them.

Children in line began to chant the countdown to the start of the race. The word “go” appeared on the screen, and the onlookers began screaming in excitement as the two toddlers flung their arms in the air and sped down the track trailing the dinosaur.

Nearby, Irving residents Dawn Crossno and her husband, John, watched as their 8-year-old grandson, Noah Jacobson, tried his hand at different interactive sports activities. They had spent 21/2 hours making their way through the museum but found themselves at a halt once they reached the sports section.

“You could spend the day here easily,” she said, adding that Noah had raced a video cheetah four times.

The museum opened on a busy day downtown, one that saw abnormally mild December weather.

The Children’s Medical Center Holiday Parade, which passed a few blocks south of the museum, drew tens of thousands of spectators.

Dealey Plaza, the West End and Klyde Warren Park attracted crowds, although vendors at the deck park said the previous weekend had been busier because of visitors in town for Thanksgiving.

‘We’re thrilled’

Fearing potential traffic congestion, Samantha Harris of Grand Prairie woke up her family at 5 a.m. so they could be on the museum plaza well before it opened.

“We’ve been hearing about it for so long, and we wanted to see it before it got too crowded,” she said.

The prospect of an abnormally busy downtown crowd, though, may have served to scare away some potential visitors.

Amber Pyles brought her 4-year-old son, Mekhai, to the parade and had hoped to make it over to the Perot Museum. But she decided not to, worried it’d be too busy.

“I know it’s the grand opening, so it must be crowded,” Pyles said.

In fact, museum attendance was unexpectedly light for the first hour.

Staff members said they purposely kept morning advance ticket sales down to guard against overcrowding. But temporary queue barriers, clearly set up to deal with anticipated walk-up crowds, at first stood unused.

The situation changed as the parade ended. By 11:30 a.m., traffic began to back up for the museum parking lots. By 12:30 p.m., the queue barriers were filling up.

Number of household memberships sold through Saturday: More than 11,000

Hours

Opening weekend: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Regular hours:

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday

Noon to 5 p.m. Sundays

Admission

General admission to exhibit halls:

$15 for adults (18-64)

$12 for students (12-17) and seniors (65+)

$10 for children (2-11)

Free for children under 2 and for museum members

Advance purchase: Tickets can be purchased online; visitors must print them out and present them for entry into the exhibit halls. The museum uses a timed-ticketed reservation system to prevent overcapacity crowds. If you miss your assigned time to get into the museum, you might have to wait in line.

Member tickets: While admission is free for members, they must have tickets to get in and are encouraged to make reservations online to avoid lines.

Film admission to the Hoglund Foundation Theater:

$8 for adults, students, seniors and children

$6 for museum members

$5 for 20-minute shows for all age groups

Combo admission to exhibit halls and theater:

$20 for adults (18-64)

$17 for students (12-17) and seniors (65+)

$15 for children (2-11)

How to get there

The museum is at 2201 N. Field St. at Woodall Rodgers Freeway.

DART buses: Take the bus to the West Transfer Center in downtown Dallas and walk north on Griffin Street to the intersection of Field Street and Woodall Rodgers.

DART trains: The Red, Blue, Green and Orange lines stop at the Akard and West End stations. The Green and Orange lines stop at Victory Station. Each station is about a 10-minute walk from the museum.

Trinity Railway Express: Take the Trinity Railway Express from Irving, Arlington and as far west as Fort Worth. Get off at Victory Station for a 10-minute walk to the museum. The train does not run on Sundays. For a schedule, go to trinityrailwayexpress.org.

Driving: The museum is at Field Street at Woodall Rodgers Freeway, which runs through downtown Dallas between Interstate 35E and North Central Expressway. Take any exit off Woodall Rodgers and take the westbound frontage road to Field Street.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.